Woman charged in Amber Alert baby kidnapping

21-year-old remains in hospital, on a respirator

Valérie Poulin-Collins, the 21-year-old Trois-Rivières woman accused of kidnapping a day-old baby from a hospital Monday night, was formally charged Wednesday with two counts of kidnapping.

Police, however, have yet to meet with Collins — she's been in hospital since Monday night, and remains unconscious and on a respirator. She's thought to have taken several medications before her arrest Monday night.

She's charged both with abducting a minor under 14 years of age, and abducting a minor under 16.

The 21-year-old woman is accused of walking into the hospital disguised as a nurse on Monday evening and snatching little Victoria Boisclair, who had been born 16 hours earlier. She had apparently told the new parents the child needed to be weighed.

Shortly after the abduction, she is thought to have told a friend that she had just adopted a baby from a teen couple.

She is also believed to have gone to a Walmart with two other people that evening to purchase diapers and other baby items.

The incident prompted authorities to issue Amber Alert on Monday evening, and former neighbors recognized the woman in a security photo distributed by police, of Poulin-Collins wearing her nurses' outfit — orange hospital scrubs.

The child was returned to the parents about three hours later.

Poulin-Collins is known to police — she's due to return to court in June and July to answer to several other charges, including theft and drug possession.

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